Personal Potluck

So I was supposed to drop by a potluck last night, but I spent the day hanging with my parents at the Memphis Botanic Gardens and the Pink Palace Museum (a museum of Memphis history and some science-y stuff, like dinosaurs). By the time we were done walking the massive garden grounds, I was pooped.

Lucky for me, I'd already baked a big ol' batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Vegan with a Vengeance to take to the potluck:


Since I didn't go to the potluck, these babies are all mine! Normally, I'd feel fat about that, but these are so darn good, I don't even care if they make me chubby. At least, I don't care until they're all gone. Then, I'll hit the gym super hard or something.

I've been seeing these on other blogs for awhile now, and I've been dying to try them (but I need an excuse, like a potluck, to justify cookie making). By the way, has anyone else noticed a missing ingredient in this recipe? I had to add 1/4 cup soymilk because the dough was way too dry. With the additional soymilk, they turned out great!
On another note, I made a mental note to do a meme from Musings from the Fishbowl a week or so ago. Shellyfish tagged anyone with more than one tattoo, and I've got two, so here goes:

What were you doing five years ago?

I was working as an intern at the Memphis Flyer, the alternative newsweekly where I'm now employed full-time. And I was living in an apartment in Memphis with my ex and our dog (Datsun) and at least one cat (now I have 4).

What are five things on your to-do list for today? (I'm actually doing tomorrow because today is almost over)

1) Make Chickpea Noodle Soup from the Veganomicon
2) Start composing the annual "bar guide" for Memphis Magazine (the Flyer's sister publication)
3) Make pancakes in my new non-stick skillet that I bought today!!!
4) Read the new vintage vegan cookbook that mom's friend bought me at a flea market this past weekend
5) Go to the gym

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1) Those yummy cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance (see picture above)
2) Primal Strips veggie jerky
3) Cherry Tomatoes
4) Spicy Nuts
5) Popcorn with nooch and dried dill (thanks Happy Herbivore on the dill tip)

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1) Open a vegan bakery or restaurant
2) Go to vegan culinary school
3) Give some money to PETA
4) Travel all over the world (Holland, Australia, Japan, London, you name it)
5) Start my own vegan magazine (sorry Veg News...)

What are five of your bad habits?

1) I can be super judgmental.
2) I spend too much time obsessing over getting fat.
3) I spend too much time obsessing over food (see #2).
4) I don't spend enough time on my couch. I should really start watching TV or something.
5) I can't think of a fifth one, which probably means that I also think too highly of myself.

What are five places where you have lived?

I've only lived in two places:

1) Jonesboro, Arkansas
2) Memphis

What are five jobs you’ve had?

1) Journalist
2) Pre-press work for newspaper (on the production end)
3) Photo developer at Wal-Mart
4) Wal-Mart Door Greeter
5) Cashier

Tag! You're it if you ...

1) Don't have cable TV.
2) Have a tongue piercing.
3) Have two or more cats.
4) Prefer cooking to baking.
5) Drive a foreign car.

Just copy this survey into your blog if you meet the above criteria, and don't forget to link back to mine.

Raw Solstice Party!

Our local Memphis vegetarian group, Food Awareness, had a Raw Food Tasting/Solstice Party/Vegan BBQ last night. We have a tendency to go a little crazy with the themes ... like "raw" and "BBQ." But it worked ... especially that raw part.

We met at Judith's house, and she's 100% raw. She's a great un-cook, so she prepared several raw dishes, like this awesome Pesto with Roma Tomatoes:


And these spicy Jalepeno Flax Seed Raw Crackers:

These were my favorite! I couldn't keep out of them. She actually made three varieties of crackers, but I only photographed these because they were the best. And I didn't think you guys would want to look at a million cracker pics.

Here's Judith's Raw "Tuna" on Cucumbers:


She told me what was in this, but I don't remember. I know it had some nuts or seeds and some nori. Really, really tasty! Sorry the picture kinda sucks. It was taken inside with a flash.

We also nibbled on cherries:


And these organic blueberries that Judith hand-picked earlier in the day:


Everything was so amazing, and it was wonderful to celebrate the first day of summer with veggie friends. We also roasted veggie dogs over a fire, but it was too dark for pictures by then. Vaughan brought some yummy chutney rice dish and Judith prepared black eyed peas for the un-raw folks.

If I could afford to hire Judith as my personal raw chef, I'd have no problem giving up cooked food!

Sometimes the Leftovers Are Better...

I wanted to celebrate the Solstice a little early, so last night (on the night of the full moon, mind you) I grilled out. What better way to celebrate the Summer Solstice than by cooking most of my meal outside? For my protein, I made the Hot Glazed Tempeh from the Veganomicon:


I've made this before, but last time, it was mid-winter ... not exactly appropriate grilling time. So I broiled it that time, and it was good. But grilling makes all the difference in the world with this recipe. If you haven't tried this yet, do it now before it gets all cold again.

I also sliced some farmer's market zucchini and stuffed it in a packet of aluminum foil, along with a little Smart Balance Light (it's vegan and has less fat than Earth Balance) and seasoning salt:


This is how my mom prepared our zucchini and squash on Father's Day, and it was so tasty, I had to have more. Grilling zucchini gives it a delightfully smoky flavor.

But my other dish was kind of a disaster. I tried to create a baked mac & cheeze recipe for my Southern vegan cookbook. But it came out a little, um, dry:


First, I made a cashew cheeze sauce in the food processor. It was so yummy and super-duper creamy. And I should have just stirred it into the cooked macaroni and called it done. But instead, I tried to get all Paula Deen with it. I added flour to the mix, as well as extra soymilk. Then I topped it with shredded Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar, and stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Bad move. The flour sucked all the life out of the cashew cheeze, leaving it a dry, yet pretty tasty mess. And the FYH didn't melt a bit. Luckily, I salvaged the leftovers for lunch today by throwing a little of it into a saucepan with more soymilk and more nooch. The FYH actually melted into the macaroni.


The result was creamy, cheezy goodness. So I'm going to try this recipe again soon, but I promise to steer clear of the oven. Besides, what was I thinking running the hot oven when I was grilling most of my meal outside? I know, it's crazy talk.

Red Beans and Rice Didn't Miss Her

Remember that classic 90s song lyric?

"You ain't it Miss Thang/ Give me a sista/ Can't resist her/ Red Beans and Rice Didn't Miss Her/ Some knucklehead tried to dis/ Cuz his girls were on my list/ He had game but he chose to hit 'em/ And I pull up quick to get wit 'em"

"Baby Got Back" is quite possibly the best song of my generation. It's one of the only songs I can karaoke to ... anyway, speaking of red beans and rice, that's what I had for dinner last night:


This is Nutty Brown Rice with Red Bean Sauce from Judy Brown's "Guide to Natural Foods Cooking." I've mentioned the book before. It's a vegan cookbook from 1989. So retro. And this dish had a very wholesome, pre-faux meat craze retro feel to it. The rice is peppered with walnuts, green onion, and herbs.

The sauce, which totally makes the dish, is made from mushed kidney beans, sesame oil, garlic, and miso. Judy actually called for onions instead of garlic, but I used garlic since there were already onions in the rice.

On the side, I fried some green tomatoes from the farmer's market:


Though I adore the fried slices that most people make, my mom always prepared hers this way. They're diced, coated them with cornmeal and flour, and cooked in a skillet hash-brown style. Yum! BTW, notice the new vintage plates ... another gift from my Granny.

My Dad Rocks!

On Father's Day, the Dutchman (aka the boyfriend) and I went to Arkansas to visit my parents. My mom planned a BBQ meal and invited my Granny and Pa (daddy's parents) and my Me-Maw (my mom's mom). Here's my dad and I standing in the driveway:


I gotta say, I'm pretty sure I have the coolest dad on the planet. He handles everything that I'm too retarded to figure out on my own — like car insurance when I have wrecks, my car when it breaks down, anything in my apartment that needs fixing (last Father's Day, he installed a new air conditioner in my apartment). He just built me a flawless, elaborate computer desk by hand. And he even orders me vegan treats, like Teese, vegan chocolates, and tofu jerky. I love my dad!!!


I also love my mom, who you can see here grilling meat (ick!). But don't worry. She also grilled Tofurkey Kielbasa for me:


She basted the kielbasa in homemade barbecue sauce, and I topped this dog with sauerkraut and mustard. Yum! If you haven't tried these, I highly, highly recommend them!

On the side, she made Paula Deen's Baked Beans:


The recipe calls for bacon, but she took a good-sized portion out for me before adding bacon to the big pot. She also used vegetarian baked beans for the whole dish. These have crushed pineapple and French fried onion in them, and oh my are they delicious!

We also had grilled squash and zucchini, and a salad of marinated tomatoes (from the farmer's market so they're safe from salmonella), cucumbers, and onions:


For dessert, Granny brought over a vegan Sweet Potato Pie:


It's a recipe she's been working on converting for my cookbook, and it was so tasty! She thinks it needs more work though, so she's going to tweak it for the final recipe. It tasted perfect to me!

Then, my mom made ice cream sundaes with homemade vegan hot chocolate and toasted pecans. Everyone else ate dairy ice cream, but she bought me a pint of French Vanilla Soy Dream:


Overall, Father's Day was a huge success! I got my dad a Harley Davidson tee with a skull on it, and a Harley cap with a skull. My dad just bought a Harley last week, and he loves anything with skulls on it. He's kind of a punk rocker like that.

Gay Pride Birthday Cupcakes!

Last night, I brought Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting to my friend Monica's birthday party:


The theme was Glitter Eyeliner Glam, which explains why I'm wearing so much makeup. And my friend Greg took the picture, so blame him for the lack of focus. Monica's party was on the same day as the Memphis Gay Pride Parade (which I marched in), so I decorated the cupcakes with rainbow sugar. By the way, there is blue sugar where the blue should be, but it's so light that it didn't show up in the picture.


The recipe was a variation on the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Super yummy!

The Dutchman is in town this weekend, and he came to the party too. He even wore "guyliner."


Here's my friend Greg, covered in pink glitter. The glitter theme was his concept:

For the Church Potluck ... Or the Family Reunion

At every church potluck dinner or social event in the South, you can bet on the appearance of a Velveeta-laden broccoli-rice casserole (made with white rice of course ... and sometimes even chicken). As a young lacto-ovo vegetarian, I loved the meat-free version of this classic casserole. So tonight, I re-created it vegan-style for my cookbook. Here's a bowl of my Broccoli Brown Rice & Cheeze Casserole:


This dish is super creamy, thanks to nooch sauce and homemade vegan cream of mushroom soup. Homemade sprouted grain breadcrumbs were the perfect topping, adding a little crunch right where it was needed. The perfect childhood comfort food. It brought me back to a time when life was simpler ... when there were no bills to pay, no work to do. Summer days meant swimming the neighbor's pool, riding bikes through the neighborhood, and making home movies on my parents' clunky 1980s video recorder. It's crazy how one bite can take you way, way back.


I'm going to have a whole section of my cookbook devoted to casseroles. I adore a good casserole. No need for a side dish. Just plop everything in one Corningware dish, toss it in the oven, and 30 minutes later, you've got yourself a meal. So retro!